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BDG Special

Those who are interested in Leipzig graffiti, wont have missed the countless styles, street bombings and trains of members of the BDG-crew. We met Acme and Tick, to hear more.

Interview


Tell us about the development of the crew.

Acme: The crew was founded by Audi and somebody else, doesn't really matter who cause he changed his name quite often and never did anything anyway. I personally didn't want to do something illegal in the beginning, but as it got me eventually I was with them, since Audi was one of my best buddies. Three days after my first illegal piece then I said to Tick: "Just do a BDG now, so you are in the crew too." On the same evening Audi was out with Monroe and asked him the same question, therewith we were completed.
Tick: That was summer 99. At the outset there was also the question, which combination of letters to write. DGB> GBD ? at the end we decided that BDG is the coolest. The date of foundation was the 24.7. Funnily enough this is exactly the number to the letters BDG. From then on it went straight on. There wasn't a meaning back then for BDG, and we still don't really have one but we did make up things like: "Blazin Dragons", "Burning Damage", "Bad DoGs", or "Big Dick Guys"

How did it progress from then?

Tick: After founding the crew, it was some two years tough action, as we were truly into the whole graff thing. We were really productive then, till about 2002. Since then, the "crew thing" is to paint a bombing now and then. Besides this we all go our own ways. The crew still exists of course, but we are more into pushing our own names. There are enough crew bombings, and you still see them all over in Leipzig.

How did you start with graffiti, anyway?

Tick: At that time, say '95 I was one day coming back from the lido with a homie and we were cracking auto-emblems on the way and saw a junk car on the roadside. We gave it a look and I found a spray can inside, metallic blue. On my way home I did my first tags. Later I was together with a friend who was really into train sets in a shop for train set accessories and they had these graffiti stickers for trains. So I sticked them on all my model trains and found that so cool that I said "You got to do this too". From this moment on inspired and animated by stickers I started writing. I painted my first piece in broad daylight on a shanty. It was summer and I had a yellow and a blue marking can, those are actually made to mark the floor.
Acme: My first tag was with the same can from the junk car. And then of course I knew Monroe who was already writing for some time, two months I guess, and by steady sketching one thing led to another.

When did you get in touch with other writers?

Acme: That needed ages. The first more or less known contacts were the WRA guys.
Tick: They were mostly painting the outer city, on the express way and in villages. We sort of, brought them into the city and someday into the ####-yard. Sounds weird, but that's how it was. (Laughing) We would have been amazed though, to paint with the "big" guys, today it's kind of normal to meet up at productions or wall of fame actions and do something. We were too much underdog in the beginning, permanently going to our halls and doing lots of sketching.
Acme: Today I have the feeling it's different: first the young people meet someone before they start big.

The BDG has the reputation of being a style crew.

Tick: Where did you hear that?
Acme: Rumors...
Tick: Well, style is an important thing to us; otherwise we would have never practiced like shit at wall of fames and in empty halls in the beginning, before even starting illegal. We wanted to practice our style before, that's why we did that at spots which were not seen immediately by everyone. Thus, we set a very high value on style.
Acme: Actually that's due to our orientation rather on mags than on Leipzig. Therefore, we also barely practiced real bombings.
Tick: The highest level is doing styles. There are different disciplines, you can tag, t-up, bomb, quick-piece, style and wild style. Like this it ascending to the top. That's not supposed to mean that simple stuff is bullshit, simple letters chrome and black remain king. Though, one can try to hide one's style incapacities in a wild style, but later you will just see that there are dissonant things in it. The very smallest things have to fit together and the result got to look good. The first line has to match the last one. In my opinion that's much harder for difficult things than for simple stuff. Bombings are okay, they are a part of the game, but I find pieces were you really see the effort, definitely more cool. I am a style enthusiast, that's why I do so much in that area lately.

Why was there such a similarity between your stuff in you bombing time?

Tick: It was like this: I had something in my mind and painted that. Afterwards I saw that it was actually supposed to be realized differently and so you try again. Then you definitely get series in which the bombings are certainly similar, but with little modifications. At the end the bomb should look like I really wanted it to look like.

Do you write for the piece or for the action?

Tick: For me that's connected: Do a sketch, go to the spot, then the highlight, paint the piece, then back home, best save, and then the photo next day.
Acme: Its fun though to go painting with friends. However, I do it mostly for the piece. Surely you have a certain connection to people through graffiti and you have to stick together, but when I have a beer with them it's the same thing for me at the end. Especially as I know the most people from before my graffiti time.

What about tagging?

Acme: Tagging is risk.
Tick: Especially if you want to do more than one thing. We preferred to do like 4 or 5 bombings per evening and to act inconspicuously on the way, than tagging all night long.

What's you attitude to property?

Acme: If I wouldn't write since ever, I wouldn't do it. In effect, it's sort of stupid to destroy people's property. If somebody would paint my car I would kill him. I'm in a conflict there, as I do have my ideas that have to be expressed from time to time.
Tick: The things we paint are to an extent just a mean to an end for us. You try to show that you are here, that you are alive. Of course it's a problem for most of the people to get their possessions painted, but at the end you don't think about that while writing.
Acme: But neither you can explain to a caretaker or someone, that it is important for you to spray here.

What about travels and contacts beyond Leipzig?

Acme: Audi is travelling a lot and in effect he has been everywhere in Europe. For us two there is contact to Cologne.
Tick: Of course it's dope to go write somewhere else and this is why we do it as often as we can. It''s cool to get my name seen in other cities, and this is pretty much, what graff is about. But apart from that I more like painting in my city. Where I belong to belongs my graffiti to.
Acme: Somehow thats one reason, why I have to destroy property: I love to see one piece of me every day.

Is there anything you would like to say to young people who are new to the graff shit?

Acme: Stop writing! Just joking...
Tick: Graffiti is a really cool thing and once you are in it, it really enriches yourselves with experience and cool moments. So it''s really worth doing.
Acme: What I am bored of is this gangsterism thing. Noone is interested in that anymore. So relax guys.

What cans do you prefer?

Tick: I like to write with left over cans. You get cool results from that, if you are limited to do something with the last sip of paint. The only can which is mostly full is the outline. If you do the fill in with wall paint you can save some good money and the outcome is the same or even better, because the piece seems laminar.
Acme: I have the feeling that I always take the same colors again and again.
Tick: Since you buy them expensive in the store, I rather buy trash-packs or cans for testing purpose and have to live with what I've got. As well cans with the "female"-system and crap like this. To paint with cans that you can't get everyday is a challenge and that rocks. Colorful is powerful.

Is there something you still want to do or would have liked to have done?

Acme: That is actually a perfect Audi-Question, he would say something like "The last steeler-engine" but he could also list other things for hours.

What's up with him?

Acme: It's really a pity that he can't be here. He is always in our minds but rarely here in Leipzig.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Tick: Graffiti won't let me go this fast. I will definitely still sketch and check the pieces to be up to date. In detail: no clue.
Acme: Actually I wouldn't go painting anymore right now. But I still have some things that have to get out. And this will stay like that.
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